ST. BONAVENTURE — Towards the end of St. Bonaventure’s season-previewing women’s basketball media day, Jim Crowley was asked if any of his freshmen would make an impact and play big minutes from game one.
“They better,” Crowley said. “They weren’t brought here not to, so yeah, they better.”
Crowley’s 2024-25 team is comprised mostly of either fifth-year or first-year college players: four redshirt seniors or graduate students, six freshmen. So for many Bonnies, it’s either the start or nearing the end of their college careers.
For Isabellah Middleton, the Bonnies’ leading rebounder (5.9 per game) as a 5-foot-9 guard and second-leading scorer (11.5 points per game) last year, the new blood (nine new players overall) was exciting.
“I love it. I’m not gonna lie,” Middleton said. “When I saw there’s so many freshmen coming in, I told all my upperclassmen, like, as soon as they get here, we need to get in them, simple as that, just because they have to play. We have the new players on our team, everybody needs to play so that we can get to where we’re trying to get. And I just love it, because I feel like at first it was a few people, and then it started getting more and more, and you could see the energy get loud and people getting rowdy. So I just love that. I think we’re just growing every day in that area, and I just think that is going to prepare us to play the other teams.”
Middleton, a Leesburg, Va. native who transferred to Bona from Slippery Rock in 2023, played in all 30 games for a ‘23-’24 team that was small in numbers and saw its depth tested in a 4-26 season.
“I think last year wasn’t exactly what I expected, just because … with the bodies and everything,” Middleton said of her first year at Bona. “I was just excited to get to this level and be able to show what I can do and just work hard to play in the A-10 conference.
“I just think that with all the things that we went through and we had to just power through together, it just taught me how to be a leader in different ways. I feel like last year me, I would have looked at it and been like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re losing our games … we don’t have any players.’ But looking at it now, I’m like, I really needed last year so that this year I could be the leader I needed to be for my teammates, the confident player that I am in myself.”
Last year may have been Middleton’s fourth in the college game, but her first under Crowley.
“Figuring out where my game fits into the offense, because he already knew where my game fit into it,” Middleton said of her biggest adjustment last year. “But I remember having a conversation last year, like, I don’t know when I’m supposed to take my shots, I don’t know what to do, because I’m used to having a ball screen and just go, and he’s like, ‘Well, the offense isn’t going to change, so you need to figure it out.’ And I think we just kind of worked through that together, and I saw his confidence in me, so it just kind of helped me to figure out my place on the team.”
Another adjustment? Learning how to lead.
“Being consistent in how I bring my energy every day, even if I’m not having the best practice or anything, I can always have a voice, or things like that,” she said. “And then also, I feel like my teammates are really confident in me, and I see that they kind of trust me. So it makes me want to go harder for them.”
Middleton led Bona to a season-opening 82-61 win over Binghamton on Saturday, scoring 19 points. She scored 15 on Tuesday in a 60-52 loss at Youngstown St., second behind Dani Haskell’s 24.
On the other side of the media room table, with Crowley and Middleton, was one of the team’s many newcomers: freshman Macy Smith. Smith comes to Bona from Strasburg, Va.
“From the moment I talked to the coaches and got here, I knew that it was a special place, and I was just excited to get to play at this level,” she said. “And yeah, just like the community and the family aspect of this place, and just like the coaching staff and meeting the team, it just kind of felt right.”
Joining a team with several players who’ve been-there, done-that has been a valuable asset to the freshmen.
“Yeah, the seniors, from the moment we got here, were just very welcoming and just telling us how it is, being honest with us,” Smith said. “But I love learning from them and just learning how I can be a leader for the next group to come as well.”
Smith has come off the bench in Bona’s first two games. Her playing time is limited so far, but she’s aiming to bring consistency to this team.
“That’s one of my favorite words,” Smith said. “Being consistent and just not letting up, and just my work ethic. And defense, that’s a work in progress right now, but that’s one area where I really want to help my team.”
